Musa MUSACEAE-CANNACEAE Carina 



Nusa basjoo Sieb. & Zucc. (Japanese Banana), cultivated in Japan for fiber, is also grown 

 as an ornamental in our area. (Fig. 496.) The male flowers 8-12 with one bract. (Mak.F.710) 



193. ZINGIBERACEAE GiNCxER Family mPc (Chiang K'o) 



Perennial herbs from often fleshy aromatic rhizomes, with simple stems and 

 sheathing entire linear or elliptic usually distichous often ligulate lvs.: fls. bisexual, 

 irregular, epigynous, often in dense bracteate spikes or heads: perianth of 6 parts in 

 2 tubular series; fertile stamens 1; anther 2-cclled; ovules many: fr. a 3-valved 

 loculicidal or sometimes indehiscent capsule; seeds small and numerous, often arillate. 

 About 45 genera with over 800 species, in tropical regions; 8 genera and about 40 

 species in China. 



1. Zingiber Adans. Ginger fg (Chiang Shu) 

 Perennial herbs with tuberous aromatic rhizomes: lvs. distichous, sheathing at the 

 base; sheaths split; blades oblong-lanceolate: infl. spicate, usually arising from the 

 rhizomes rather than terminating the lfy. stem: bracts of the infl. green or colored, 

 imbricate, 1-several-fld.: corolla tube longer than the bract; staminodes none, or very 

 small; connective of the anther prolonged into a curved spur: fr. a thin-walled capsule, 

 3-valved. 60 species, tropical Asia to New Guinea; 8 in China. (The ancient Greek or 

 Latin name, from the Sanskrit name " sringavera ".) 



1. Zingiber officinale Roscoe Common Ginger It (Chiang) (Mak.F. 708). From stout 

 rootstocks, 8dm. tall; fls. yellow-green, XI. Introduced from Pacific Islands; 

 locally in Ku. Cultivated, condiment. Fig. 497. 



194. CANNACEAE Canna Family Sjtft- (T'an Hua K'o) 



Erect coarse perennial herbs with lfy. stems and fleshy rootstocks: lvs. alternate, 

 with sheathing petioles; blades broad and entire: fls. in a terminal spike, showy, 

 mostly red or yellow, very irregular: perianth of 2 whorls of 3's, sepal-like; staminodia 

 petal-like, the conspicuous part of the fl.; one petal-like stamen, narrower than the 

 others, bearing a single fertile anther cell; ovary inferior; style long, flattened or 

 club-shaped: fr. a 3-valved pappilose, warty or bristly capsule bearing the persistent 

 calyx; seeds globose, hard and black. One genus, in tropical America; cultivated in 

 China. 



1. Canna Linn. fi?f*M (T'an Hua Shu; Vanishing-cloud-flower Genus) 

 Characters of the family. 50 or more species, some of them naturalized in Asia; 

 2 in China. (Latin ; canna, a reed or cane.) 



Key to the Species 

 Stems and lvs. glaucous: fls. in many colors, with 4 erect staminodes 1. C. generalis 

 Stems and lvs. purplish or brownish purple: fls. scarlet, often tinged 



blue, with 2-3 erect staminodes 2. C. warscewiczii 



1. Canna generalis Bailey Common Garden Canna ^AM (Mei Jen Chiao; Beautiful- 

 lady Plantain) (Mak.F. 707). Stout, erect, 1-1.5 m. high; fls. in many colors, 

 VII. Introduced hybrid-garden origin; locally in Ku. Planted, ornamental. Fig. 

 498. 



2. Canna warscewiczii Dietr. §i/JilMft (Mei Chou T'an Hua; American Canna) 



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